1 Month Left

I'm back to school August 1st, so I've got one month left to get a lot of work done. I need to finish my scene database, find plays for my two advanced classes to perform, re-write my disclosure documents, clean up my costume room (again), catch up on classroom management and teaching strategies and start learning Spanish. So, I've decided to give myself a schedule to follow so it will all get done.

Mondays: Education: This would be reading up on strategies, lesson planning, disclosure documents, etc.

Tuesdays: Theatre: Database, reading plays, catching up on theatre concepts.

Wednesdays: Spanish: I got the Rosetta Stone CDs to learn Spanish. I know it is going to take a while, but considering the majority of my students speak Spanish, not to mention most of their parents, I'd like to start learning.

Thursday: Education again.

Friday: Theatre again.

Saturday and Sunday: Housework, books I want to read and random things that need to get done.

We'll see how well this works...

Technology in the Classroom

My school puts a big focus on using technology in the classroom. This year every student will get a netbook from the school. We are supposed to have our students use their computers often in our classroom.

The problem is that all the suggestions we have been given on how to use computers in our classroom are geared towards traditional classrooms, where teachers lecture and students take notes and take tests. That is not how my classroom works, as it makes no sense to teach drama that way. (Frankly, I don't think any class should be taught that way, but that is for another time.) So I am left with the push to include technology but no guidance on how to do that.

This is not a new problem for me; nontraditional classrooms tend to get the short end of the advice stick. So I've been considering ways to bring technology into my classroom in a way that works for my students. I will not just use technology for the sake of technology; it needs to work for what I am trying to teach.

Remind 101: Remind101 is a website that lets teachers send text messages to students to remind them about assignments, tests, etc. It is all run through a website so no one has access to anyone else's phone number. I used it for a bit last year and liked it. It fell apart at the semester when I lost and gained some students. I'd like to keep it up the whole year. I find that my students do better when I remind them to bring props, finish assignments and study for tests.

Google Sites: In discussing with my husband how to use technology in the classroom, he suggested databases to store information. I thought that was a great idea. My students perform scenes, monologues and 10-minutes plays from a variety of sources. Last year I probably killed several trees in printing all those scenes out. My students lost them, took pictures of them on their phones so they didn't need the paper copies or changed their minds and needed new copies. So, I've created a website for all of these scripts using Google sites. I'll post the link when it is up and running.

I'm still plotting on how to solve the technology in the classroom problem, but I think these two ideas are a step in the right direction.

Planning Ahead #1

In the 30 Rock episode "Shower Principle" Jack tells Liz that the best time to solve problems is when you are focusing on simple tasks. Today, while I was getting my hair cut I solved one of my classroom problems that has been frustrating me for a year.

My students don't know each other in my beginning classes. By the end of the year, they still didn't know people's names. It made me sad; a drama class shouldn't function like that. They had all worked together but still didn't know each other. So I want to put a focus on getting to know each other. One way I'll do this is by giving them a test at the end of the 1st semester on everyone's names. They will know about it from day one, and every time I change the seating chart or put them in groups I will set aside some time for them to get to know the people around them. I assumed they would do this naturally, but it doesn't seem to have happened last year.

I will get started on this on the first day of school. They will be put into groups of three or four and told to introduce themselves. Each group will then come up with two or three classroom rules they feel are important. As a group they will introduce each other and the rules they created. This kills two birds with one stone: starts them getting to know each other and it
gets them involved in setting classroom procedures. I wanted more student input on class rules last year but was too intimidated to make it work. But now I have a plan and can put it into action instead of trying to make something up on the spot.

The Plan

I will be working on improving in one area each month. These areas are based on what I experienced in my first year of teaching. I'll discuss my specific goals for each of these in depth each month, but here is a basic outline.

June 2014: Planning ahead: I am a good improvisor when it comes to teaching. I have a lot of experience in theatre and can therefore come up with lessons on the fly easily. Because it is so easy for me, I spend less time prepping than I should. So over the summer I want to get unit outlines, lesson plans and materials in order.

July 2014: Professional Development: I don't have a lot of time to read up on classroom strategies and theatre topics during the school year. So I want to get some new tools to add to my "tool belt" as far as classroom management and engagement strategies go.

August 2014: Organization: Organization is not my natural state of being. Last year there were papers all over my desk all the time. I want to create a system of turning in homework and handing it back. I also want to set up clear classroom rules and create spaces for props and costumes that are being used in class to be stored, instead of having them live in piles all over my classroom.

September 2014: Positive Attitude: I am a bit of a pessimistic, and that can rub off on my kids. I love theatre and want my kids to see that. If I set something up as dull or hard, they will see it that way. I want them to be excited about what we are doing and know I believe in them.

October 2014: Feedback: I want to give better feedback to my students more often. I moved on to new things without giving adequate feedback last year.

November 2014: Consistency: I want to enforce rules consistently across days and across classes. I had a hard time with that last year, especially with cell phones in the classroom.

December 2014: Student-centered Learning: What do my students find interesting? What are they going to need to know to succeed in other classes and the world? How do I make their needs the focus of my classroom? When I get frazzled, I get focused on me and not them. And December is a very stressful month with all kinds of events in the auditorium.

January 2015: Self Control: By January of this year I was pretty worn out. I lost my temper easily and yelled at my students more than I wanted to. Instead of focusing on how they could improve i focused on what wasn't working because of my own aggravation. I want to change the yelling and the negative speaking.

February 2015: Being Present in Each Class: Often I get so worried about shows and other classes that I don't focus on the class that I am in. I want to engage with each of my classes each day and save other things for after school.

March 2015: Community Outreach: To run a strong drama program, we need to have an audience. With a musical planned for March, I want to reach out to our community, let them know who we are and what we are doing.

April 2015: Professional Relationships: I have good relationships with the fine arts teachers I work with and most of the administration. I would like to work on those relationships, especially letting the administration know what I need for the next school year.

May 2015: Review: In May I want to go back over everything that I've worked on and see if I can bring everything together.

Here We Go...

I just finished my first year as a high school drama teacher. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. I learned a lot from it; most importantly I learned that I love my students and want to be the best teacher I can for them. But so often I let grading, paperwork, scheduling and ordering for shows get in the way of working with my students. I get upset at one class and let it impact my whole day. I got frazzled at all the work I had to do for my own shows and didn't focus on my students. I got bogged down by everything happening in the auditorium I have to manage and don't plan lessons as well as I should. And I want that to change.

My first year ended on a good note. Most of my students were successful in my classes and I had several students thank me for pushing them and asking them to work as hard as I did. My students put on three plays and two improv shows, all of which went fairly well. But I know I can do better. I know there are things I want to improve.

Each month from June 2014 to May 2015 I will be focusing on a different skill I want to incorporate into my teaching. I don't expect to succeed at all of them all the time, but I hope that by focusing on one specifically each month I can improve a bit in each area.

I'll be documenting what I do on this blog, and hopefully turning the experience into a book at the end. But no matter what happens, I hope that my teaching skills and relationships with my kids will improve.

Note: I am not using my own name. Nor will I be using real names of people or places in this blog for the privacy of my students, co-workers and school.